Caitlin Clark, Fever produce ‘spectacle’ in Toronto as Tempo lose 11th straight

TORONTO — Two of the most anticipated moments of the Toronto Tempo’s inaugural season came to a head on Tuesday night at Scotiabank Arena.

Brittney Sykes, the defensive superstar and million-dollar offensive backcourt weapon, made her return to the floor after eight weeks out with a foot injury.

But the 19,300 seats at Scotiabank Arena didn’t sell out simply for Sykes’ return. Tuesday also marked the first time Caitlin Clark’s Indiana Fever would play in Toronto.

“There'll be a lot of Caitlin Clark fans in the stands too, which I don't have a problem with ... That's good. They're coming to watch. They get to see the Toronto Tempo, too,” Tempo head coach Sandy Brondello said.

Sykes was met with thunderous applause when introduced in the starting lineup — and perhaps surprisingly, the cheers she received rang louder than the welcome Clark attracted when her name was called moments before.

“It was chilling. I couldn't even hear my name to be honest,” Sykes said.

“Like I said from the beginning, like yes, the W fans in the States, they give love, but Goddamnit, like Toronto and Canada itself, the love that they give is just ridiculous. I'm really grateful for that, too.”

Unfortunately for Tempo fans, the slumping home team lost 101-95 to the Fever as a big rally at the end of the fourth quarter fell short. It was the 11th consecutive loss for the Tempo, who are now 0-3 at Scotiabank Arena for showcase games.

One thing that felt good for the hosts was having Sykes and Marina Mabrey back atop the scoresheet. Mabrey fought through tough double-team action from the Fever to lead the Tempo with 22 points while Sykes added 15 in 21 minutes. She was on a minutes restriction, but said after the game that she fought for extra time on the court.

Before the game, Brondello wanted Sykes to “have some grace and play with joy.”

“I'm grateful for coach really because that helped me kind of ease my nerves. I can get really worked up and lost in a lot of things that I can't control, and the one thing that I could control was where I placed my joy.”

Sykes showed Toronto just what it had been missing with a play in the second quarter that saw her fight for a rebound at one end, take it down the floor herself and release it for a jumper at the elbow.

Annesah Morrow grabbed a tough offensive rebound over Aliyah Boston and Myisha Hines-Allen and sunk the layup to cut the deficit to five points. Morrow, a trade-deadline acquisition, had 14 points and 16 rebounds, good for a franchise rebounding high. It was her first double-double since the trade and 10th this season.

Defence improved for the Tempo, who put up 41 rebounds and saw Laura Juskaite, Isabelle Harrison and Morrow outperform their season rebounding averages.